At about 7:30 AM outside Meeker, on January 16th, a man was making breakfast when he thought he saw a Coyote, according to a Colorado Parks and Wildlife incident report obtained by 9NEWS Investigates. The man grabbed his Remington Model 700 22-250 rifle and fired one shot from about 200 yards away, killing the animal.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“He continued having breakfast and getting ready for the day for approximately one hour,” the report states.<\/p>\n
Then, the man went to check what he’d shot and saw a pink GPS collar and understood he did not kill a coyote, but rather a grey wolf<\/a>. \u00a0The report does not state whether or not the man used a scope to take the shot. A CPW spokesperson told 9NEWS the man did use a scope.<\/p>\n CPW numbered this particular wolf as 2504, a female, which the state imported from Canada in January 2025.\u00a0<\/p>\n After realizing he killed an endangered species, the man called CPW. An officer arrived in less than 30 minutes.\u00a0<\/p>\n “Was honest and cooperative throughout the contact, and he was visibly shaken,” the officer noted in his report, believing, “This was an honest mistake.”<\/p>\n Grey wolves are an endangered species in the United States and in the state of Colorado. The feds handed the investigation back to CPW. The maximum penalty for killing an endangered species in Colorado is a $100,000 fine, a year in jail, 20 wildlife license suspension points, and the person’s license privileges can be suspended indefinitely.\u00a0<\/p>\n The state fined the man $139.50 and gave him 5 points on his license.\u00a0<\/p>\n Ranchers have told 9NEWS this case highlights the need for the state to be more transparent about the location of wolves. A leader in Colorado from the nonprofit Project Coyote told 9NEWS he agreed there could be more transparency, but added he had “huge concerns” other people could get away with killing a wolf by saying they thought it was a Coyote.<\/p>\n